Duke is back on top

INDIANAPOLIS – The ball sailed from midcourt with the buzzer sounding, bounced off the backboard, the rim, the floor.

Most of the 70,000 fans on Butler’s side let out an “Ohhhhhh,” and the Duke players piled onto Kyle Singler at center court. What a game, and what a way to end the season, even if America’s favorite underdog came up a little short.

Additional Photos

Duke players Brian Zoubek, right, Jon Scheyer, center, and the team mascot celebrate after Duke's 61-59 win over Butler in the men's NCAA Final Four college basketball championship game Monday in Indianapolis. The Associated Press

It’s the end of a hard-fought championship game, and Jon Scheyer, right, and Lance Thomas begin Duke’s celebration of its first national title since 2001 after a 61-59 victory Monday night over Butler. The Associated Press

Kyle Singler, left, of Duke faces plenty of pressure from Butler’s Avery Jukes as he tries to put up a shot Monday night in the men’s final at Indianapolis. Singler had 19 points in the Blue Devils’ 61-59 victory. The Associated Press

It’s the end of a hard-fought championship game, and Jon Scheyer, right, and Lance Thomas begin Duke’s celebration of its first national title since 2001 after a 61-59 victory Monday night over Butler. The Associated Press

Duke beat Butler 61-59 for the NCAA men’s basketball national championship Monday night, a win that wasn’t secure until after the buzzer sounded — when Gordon Hayward’s half-court, 3-point heave for the win barely missed to leave tiny Butler one cruel basket short of a Hollywood ending.

Singler scored 19 points and Brian Zoubek rebounded Hayward’s miss with 3.6 seconds left, a 15-footer while trailing by 1, to end the overachieving underdog’s try for a real-life “Hoosiers” sequel.

“We just came up a bounce short,” Butler Coach Brad Stevens said.

That bounce went in favor of the Blue Devils (35-5), who snapped Butler’s 25-game winning streak and brought the long-awaited fourth national title back home to Carolina and the Cameron Crazies.

Duke’s Big Three — Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith — won the big one for Coach Mike Krzyzewski, his first championship since 2001 and the fourth overall, tying him with Adolph Rupp for second place on the all-time list.

“First of all, it was a great basketball game. I want to congratulate an amazing Butler team and their fans,” Krzyzewski said. “Fabulous year. We played a great game, they played a great game. It’s hard for me to say it, to imagine that we’re the national champions.”

Nobody figured this would be easy, and it wasn’t — no way that was going to happen against Butler, the 4,200-student private school that turned the tournament upside down and drove 5.6 miles from its historic home, Hinkle Fieldhouse, to the Final Four.

Butler (33-5) shaved a five-point deficit to one and had a chance to win it when its best player, Hayward, took the ball at the top of the key, spun and worked his way to the baseline, but he was forced to put up a fadeaway from 15 feet.

He missed, and Zoubek got the rebound and made the first of two free throws. He missed the second intentionally, and Duke’s title wasn’t secure until Hayward’s desperation heave bounded out.

What a game to end one of the most memorable tournaments in history, the kind that could be history if the NCAA goes ahead with a proposed expansion to 96 teams.

“Both teams and all the kids on both teams played their hearts out,” Krzyzewski said. “There was never more than a couple, a few points separating, so a lot of kids made big plays for both teams.”

Playing against the Bulldogs and working against a crowd of 70,930 with very few pockets of Duke fans, the Blue Devils persevered, never leading by more than six but never falling behind after Singler hit a 3-pointer with 13:03 left for a 47-43 lead.

The Blue Devils won with defense, holding the Bulldogs to 34 percent shooting and contesting every possession as tenaciously as Butler, which allowed 60 points for the first time since February.

Zoubek, a 7-foot-1 center, finished with two blocks, 10 rebounds and too many altered shots to count. He also came out to trap the Butler guards and disrupt an offense that was already struggling.

The Blue Devils won with some clutch shooting, including Singler’s 3-for-6 effort from 3-point range, and their 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the second half until Zoubek’s intentional miss.

They won with a mean streak, most evident when Lance Thomas took down Hayward hard to prevent an easy layup with 5:07 left. The refs reviewed the play and decided not to call it flagrant, one of a hundred little moments that could have swung such a tight game.

Hayward and Shelvin Mack led Butler with 12 points each. Matt Howard finished with 11, and Avery Jukes kept the Bulldogs in it with all 10 of his points in the first half.

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